Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Today is the day. You've decided you're finally going to let us know how much you appreciate your bus driver. You grab a cup of coffee, sit down at your computer, open up a new document...

And this happens:

Writer's block!

Don't worry. We're here to help! Commendations don't have to be formal or lengthy-- just speak (or in this case, write) from the heart and go from there. Here are some examples of actual commendations our coach operators recently received:

“I ride the route 412 that leaves McCollum Park and Ride at 6:47 a.m. I must compliment our bus driver. He is kind, cautious and makes sure we arrive on time. He goes out of his way when bus riders ask him for help. On January 9, he did an act of kindness that shouldn’t go unnoticed. Please let him know I say thank you!”

“On February 14 I rode the northbound 116 that arrived at Ash Way Park and Ride at 19:02. The 116 was a little late arriving and I needed to catch the northbound 201. Sarah, the operator of the 116 honked at the 201 and got that driver’s attention so he waited and I was able to make my connection. This really made my Valentine’s Day!”

“I ride the first southbound 880 at 5:40 a.m. from 35th and 148th. The operator of this route is very friendly and a good driver. He makes the ride fun. Please let him know I think he’s great!”

“I want to commend the driver of the route 115 on January 30 as he was amazing. He took the time to explain to me how to ride a different bus, explaining the map and even tried to hold the other bus for me. I really appreciated his help."

Key things to have in your commendation:

Driver name (if you know it)

Time, Route and Day (so we can find out who the driver is so s/he gets their commendation)

Commendations are gathered and shared with drivers via a formal letter (like this one, left) and put in their employee file. Your commendation will help the driver earn recognition and service awards.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Community Transit’s Choice Connections program recognizes
worksites in Snohomish County and the City of Bothell who support Washington
State Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) goals. They go above and beyond to encourage
their employees to use smart transportation options to driving alone.

Joyce
Nelson is a project manager for technology security at AT&T. She is very
adept at managing her carbon footprint using smart transportation options to
commute by vanpooling and telecommuting for over 20 years.Traveling 84 miles daily, four days a week,
she and her vanpool partners are helping to take vehicles off the road and save
time every day by sharing the commute.

Employee Transportation Coordinator (ETC) of
the Quarter

Natalya
Tatarinov is a very active ETC for her worksite, Molina Healthcare. She
provides brochures to new hires and tells them about the benefits of
carpooling.She regularly shares the
regional rideshare promotions with her employees, such as the state-wide Wheel
Options campaign, and information about their worksite transportation program.
Molina Healthcare’s employee lunchroom is always well stocked with flyers and
posters, giving employees another way to learn about their smart transportation
options. With Natalya’s guidance, Molina employees have removed over 20,000
drive alone trips from our roads, and reduced over 10,800 pounds of CO2 from
the air during the fourth quarter alone.

Employer of the Quarter

FUJIFILM
SonoSite increased bus and vanpool riders due to company paid ORCA cards and
vanpool subsidies. They offer their employees a wide variety of resources to
learn about available smart transportation options to their worksite.Their worksite had an impressive savings of
over 4,300 pounds of CO2, and over 6,100 drive alone trips reduced from our
local roads during the fourth quarter of 2014.

Choice
Connections rewards commuters for choosing a smart transportation options and
offers the tools and resources needed to get started. When you choose a smart
commute, your efforts reduce traffic, save money and time, and help the
environment. To learn more about the Choice Connections program, please visit Community Transit Choice Connections.

Don't you feel good when someone makes you feel appreciated for what you do?

Know what else feels good? Making someone else feel appreciated!

Next week, we will focus on making our coach operators (a.k.a. "bus drivers") feel the love on Wednesday, March 18 which is Transit Driver Appreciation Day.

We invite you to join us in saying "Thank You" to the men and women who, day-in-day-out, command the wheel of our local, commuter and DART vehicles to get us to work, school, and to points here, there and everywhere as safely and as timely as possible.

We think our coach operators are amazing. Like many other customer service jobs where you're more likely to hear the bad (and rarely the good), it can really make your day to hear a simple and heartfelt, "Thank you!"

We'll be sharing our 'Appreciation Day' activities as they happen on our Facebook Page next week. We invite you to join us, even if it is virtually.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Let’s start with our Fare Policy. It states (in our Bus Plus
Book and website):

When you pay with cash, have
the exact fare ready. Drivers do not make change.

Community Transit collects
fares on all trips.

Passengers are not authorized
to ride without paying their full fare.

If you choose to ride without
paying your fare, you do so at your own risk and you may be subject to a $124.00 fine (RCW 36.57A.230 is a state law authorizing civil citations for non-fare
payment.)

The majority of our customers pay their fare—thank you! We appreciate
it! Occasionally, there are riders who can’t pay their fare, for various
reasons. And then there are those who decide not to pay their fare at all.

If you decide to ride without paying your fare, this is what
you can expect:

We will
ask for full fare—and we’ll do it politely. The driver is going to tell you
how much fare is due for your ride. At this point, we hope that you say, “Oops,
my bad,” come up with the rest of the fare and the bus and your fellow
passengers will continue on its way.

We will
continue to be polite while we tell you our fare policy. Still don’t have
the full fare? The driver will tell you our fare policy. You may or may not get
this card while the driver talks to you about the policy (pictured above).
This card was developed four years ago to give drivers a tool to educate riders
while keeping focused on the road, the safety of other passengers and their bus.

Swift, Commuter or Local— Swift Ambassadors and Transit Police
May Be Along for the Ride . With its off-board fare payment and no fare box
set-up, skipping out on paying fare happens a little more on Swift than on our other routes. However,
the Fare Policy applies and it is enforced—you will see this as Transit Police
Deputies ride Swift along with our Swift Ambassadors to carry out fare
enforcement as part of their duties. Transit Police Deputies also ride on other
routes and sometimes in plainclothes. So, while the primary emphasis is on Swift, Transit Police can show up
anywhere, any time, to carry out fare enforcement as part of their duties.

Simply put, every time you decide to skip paying a fare on a
Community Transit bus, you put yourself at risk at being fined $124.00—no
matter what the reason.

Play Fare (Pun
intended)

Consider these tips for a fare-ly smooth bus ride:

Get an ORCA Card.It works like cash or a pass. Avoid the
headache of going to the ATM and then getting smaller bills. You can buy it online,
from a customer service office like the RideStore at the Lynnwood Transit
Center or from a participating
retailer. You can manage your card online and add value. There is a
one-time cost of $5 for the card, but it will save you money after only a few
trips. Plus, you get a 2-hour free transfer!

Exact
change, please! Our drivers won’t be able to make change for that $20 bill
you got from the ATM.

Be kind.
Our drivers are tasked with transporting some pretty precious cargo—you and
your fellow riders—in addition to making sure fares are paid. When you are
short on your fare, it is their job to ask for the full fare and to tell you
about our Fare Policy. Please listen to what they have to say and make a mental
note for next time. That said, our drivers are not tasked with making you feel
like the “example” for all to see. If you experience this, please contact us at
riders@commtrans.org or (425)
353-7433.

What tips and tricks do you have to make sure you have the
correct fare? Have you ever helped a fellow passenger who didn’t have enough to
pay the fare? Tell us in the comments.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Today, the Washington State Senate took action on a transportation funding bill that would raise the gas tax to pay for roads, bridges and transit improvements over the next 16 years. The bill passed 27-22 amid objections from both Democrats and Republicans about various parts of the package.

The Senate bill contains a local option provision that would allow Community Transit to ask voters in its service area to raise the local sales tax to support increased transit service.

HB 1393 also accomplishes the same "local option" for Community Transit. That bill passed out of the House Committee on Finance last week and is awaiting a floor vote.

These items are important to the future of transit service in Snohomish County. While Community Transit is set to bring back Sunday and holiday bus service this June, current projections would see only 45 percent of the service that was cut during the recession return by 2018.

New revenue generated by a local option could help fund a second line of Swift bus rapid transit, increased commuter service to downtown Seattle and UW, more frequent bus trips throughout Snohomish County all week and late-night bus service.

Increasing demand for transit service far beyond what is now provided is a main reason why various supporters have spoekn in favor of Community Transit's local option, including Workforce Snohomish, Associated Students of the University of Washington, the Puget Sound Regional Council, Economic Alliance Snohomish County, United Way and the Transportation Choices Coalition.

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